Transitioning to Issue 4 with confidence: CoJACK’s journey

CoJACK Snack and Pack was established in January 2020 and is proudly owned by a fifth-generation farming family. Committed to cultivating, processing, and delivering top-quality dry beans, pulses, and snack foods, CoJACK places a high priority on maintaining superior standards in snack food manufacturing. Operating out of a 120,000-square-foot production facility based in North Dakota, USA, the company employs 23 full-time staff.

CoJACK has held BRCGS certification since its inception. Brian Engstrom, Owner at CoJACK shares: “Achieving this certification was crucial for us, as it allowed us to supply larger customers and expand our business. We chose BRCGS because it seemed to fit our company really well!.”

CoJACK was the first US-based site to complete their transition audit to Global Standard Gluten-Free Issue 4, describing the process as a “big transition.” This marked a significant milestone for the company, as it required extensive changes to align with the updated standards. Lorissa Green, Food Safety and Quality Manager explained: “It required a complete overhaul of our existing Gluten-Free programme, which meant reviewing all of our processes from the ground up.”

To ensure they were fully prepared for the updated requirements, the team attended a BRCGS Academy Issue 4 training course. Reflecting on the experience, they shared: “Attending the training course helped us to understand the changes in more detail and know what to expect from a transition audit. This helped us to approach the transition confidently.”

Armed with the insights from the training, the CoJACK team got straight to work on implementing the necessary updates. “The biggest challenge was comparing the requirements of Issue 3 with Issue 4. We carefully reviewed each clause side by side to identify changes and update the relevant information. This took some time as there were many things that needed to be changed and updated, including documentation, processes, and staff training.”

Despite the challenges, the team remained committed to ensuring the transition was successful. Their comprehensive approach to implementing the updated requirements paid off and CoJACK successfully completed their first Issue 4 audit in August 2024: “It is really important to our company that we can market our gluten-free products with the proper certification”.

Lorissa continued: “I do like the updated Issue 4 as it seems to flow much easier like the BRCGS Food Safety standard. It is easier to find similar types of clauses”.

When asked about top tips for other sites undergoing an Issue 4 transition audit, Lorissa commented: “My tip would be to go through each clause with Issue 3 and 4 side by side and move the applicable information to a new area for Issue 4. I’d also really recommend the Interpretation Guideline as this is a big help when you’re not quite sure of a question or clause”